Bite Me
by Mister Melancholy
Summary: “Darren,” Evra cooed slyly, fluttering his eyes innocently, “is that what I think it is?” He pointed at the red spot on my neck, and I blushed, nodding my head furiously. “N-no way!” LartenxDarren
1. Bite Me

**Bite Me**  
"Darren," Evra cooed slyly, fluttering his eyes innocently, "is that what I think it is?" He pointed at the red spot on my neck, and I blushed, nodding my head furiously. "N-no way!" LartenxDarren

Flashback is in italics.

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It all started with a simple arm wrestle.

Evra and I were playing outside per usual. We had tended to our usual chores of the day, like finding food for the Little People, already, so we just ended up killing the day away by causing a small bit of mischief around the Cirque. That was when Evra had stopped all his childishness and grinned at me, his pearly white teeth prominent, and slid towards me with the smoothness of a snake. I wasn't the least bit surprised of this, though; you see, Evra is a snake-boy, so it was only natural that he would move like that.

As he got closer to me, his grin was getting bigger. Then, he pointed to the table, then back at me, and asked hurriedly but excitedly, "You, me—how 'bout an arm wrestle?"

I laughed. Honestly, I thought he was joking around. He knew as well as anyone that I was a vampire—oh, I forgot to mention that little tidbit—and with being a vampire, I had superhuman abilities that couldn't compare to anyone. That included superhuman strength.

Well… I was only a half-vampire actually, but even then, Evra would still be no match for me, especially in an arm wrestle. So, I just stared at him with a stupid smirk and asked all rhetorically, "Really, Evra, really?"

He nodded his head. "I know you're stronger than me, but hey, I'm bored." There seemed to be something else hidden beneath his words, but I didn't mention my suspicions about it. Instead, I just shrugged at him, nodding my head to indicate his craziness, and made my way slowly to the table.

"If you really insist," I said unsurely, sitting down on one of the creaky, wooden chairs. He sat down on the other side, his eyes mildly showing a sort of maliciously curious tone to it.

"Don't worry. Like I say, I just wanna do this to waste some time. We're gonna be here all day anyway. Not like a simple arm wrestle would ruin anything."

"I might ruin your arm, though." I chuckled softly to show that I was just kidding about it, but then locked eyes with him seriously as to show him that I _was _being serious in a sense. There was no telling what would come of this, and I was surely not risking getting my best friend injured, lest knowing that I was the one who caused him pain! But, I guess Evra was pretty intent on having an arm wrestle with me, and it wouldn't hurt, like he said, right? As long as I backed off some of my strength, he should be safe from any harm.

"Hey, to make things more interesting, why don't we bet on it? If I win, I get something. If you win, you get something."

I just snickered. "That's practically a win-win situation on my part."

He shrugged. "You never know. So, how 'bout it? The winner can decide the prize after the wrestle."

"Okay, then. Be ready to be my servant for a week, Evra," I said, my chuckles becoming more sinister, but in a friendly sense, if that made any sense. Evra just shot a small smirk at me, as if he was up to something, but like the other time, I didn't pay too much attention about it. Besides, it was probably just me overanalyzing things again.

He slammed his elbow on the table harshly, the bright sunlight reflecting of his shiny green scales. I mirrored his action and locked my hands with him, smiling. "You ready?" I asked.

"On the count of three, Darren."

"Three," I said, loosening the tension in my arm.

"Two," he said, staring at our locked hands with full concentration.

"One!" I finally said as pressure began to tug at my arm, forcing it down to the right. I faked a yawn, making him agitated, and slowly started to force his hand to the left. It was only inevitable that I would win, of course. Even when I wasn't using the full potential of my superhuman strength, it wasn't like he would stand a chance. It was fun teasing him, though. It looked like he was struggling, which made me laugh out loud!

But, then, my hand started to falter when Evra, our hands almost reaching to a victory on my part, blew into my face. I gave him a look of confusion, but only thought of it as his way of distracting me for a split second, to which he could possibly take an advantage of to win. But then, he smiled at me—and, it was a smile that wasn't friendly, either.

"Darren," Evra cooed slyly, fluttering his eyes innocently, "is that what I think it is?" He pointed at the red spot on my neck, and I blushed, nodding my head furiously.

"N-no way!" I took my hand and put it on my neck. Though, I mentally kicked myself once I realized that it was the hand I had used to wrestle Evra with. My eyes widened at once, and I grimaced. "Hey! That's not fair!"

"How is it not fair?" he asked, smiling. "I mean, you retracted on your own will. I suppose that it's your way of saying quits." He shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. Now, really, tell me how you got that." He pointed to his own neck, which indicated back to the red spot on _my_ neck.

I gulped nervously. "And why should I?"

"Because you lost, and as we agreed to earlier, the winner gets to decide their prize after the wrestle."

"But you cheated!"

"Hey, we never said anything about this. It's your own fault for not making the 'rules' clear." He laughed loudly, and then looked back at me, grinning from ear to ear. "Now spit it out."

I spit on the ground, and he groaned. "Do you really wanna know?" I had a warning-kind of forefront with that statement. I obviously didn't want him to know how on earth I got this spot… It was definitely embarrassing, and it would be even more embarrassing if I were to explain it to me best friend! I mean, there should be limits to these kinds of things—sharing secrets, I mean.

"Duh," he said plainly.

I hissed, "You sure?"

"Seriously, Darren, just get on with it!" He looked at me funny. "But first off, is it from Debbie?"

"Wh… what?! Debbie?!" I could've sworn I almost choked at that. "Debbie? No, no, no way! She's my girlfriend… but she wouldn't give me _this_!" I pointed to the red spot on my neck, then blushed again as I had reminiscence the memory that went along with it. "If you really must know, I got it from… from…"

"From…?"

I sighed deeply. "From… L-_aaa_-rten…"

"Crepsley?! Mr. Crespley? You're cheating on Debbie for an old fart?" He roared with laughter once he said that, tears of joy rolling down his cheeks. Once he finally calmed down—which took a while; I don't see how it was the least bit funny, though, because it was probably one of the most serious matters in my entire life to date—he practically jumped on to my and begged from me to tell the story. "Remember our deal!" he had kept saying, and after a while of nonstop whining, I finally gave in… as reluctant as I was.

And so, I started telling him the story of last night, when me and Mr. Crepsley went out to feed.

_My stomach growled softly with hunger. That caused my mentor, Mr. Crepsley, to smile at me, asking me if I was hungry. Of course I was—it was plainly obvious, what, from my growling stomach and my paler than usual face—but instead of saying that to him, I just nodded slowly. He nodded too. If someone had seen us at this time, we could've been mistaken for two telepathics, exchanging messages with our minds, but unfortunately, that kind of power isn't in me. Mr. Crepsley, on the other hand… I'm still suspicious about him, even though he denies it wholly._

_Anyway, he gently grabbed my hand into his giant ones and said, "I too am hungry. Let us feed."_

_I smiled up to him and jumped on his back as he flitted out of the tent—I still can't wait until I learn how to do that!—and then, he stopped once we found a random passerby. We hid behind the tree, and I waited for Mr. Crepsley to knock the man out with his breath (which is… sleeping gas. I know, I know, it's weird, but I think it's really cool at the same time). Then, with his long nails, he sliced a small part of the man's skin and started sucking on it slowly. Once he was done, he motioned for me to take my turn, and so I did—and, man, did it feel good drinking blood again!_

_A small bit of blood had dribbled from my chin, though. I was still sloppy at this feeding business. And so, I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head, and Mr. Crepsley just looked at me… with a foreign expression I wasn't used to. Then, when I was just about to clean the blood away, which was still dribbling down my mouth, Mr. Crepsley had launched towards me._

_It was so fast and so unexpected, my reaction time proved useless. I thought he was about to kill me for sure, but instead, all I could feel was something soft and wet caressing my mouth. It then slowly moved downwards, onto my neck, where I could feel a little nipping._

_I opened my eyes at that and found that Mr. Crepsley had been biting my neck, though not so much as to cause a wound. But, it was surely enough to make me uncomfortable._

_I stepped back a little and looked at him as if he had just gone wild drinking vampaneze blood. "Are you… Mr. Crepsley, are you okay?"_

_He just stared at me, all emotionless, and launched for me again. I gasped loudly and tried to run for my life, but being the half-vampire I was, I was no match for a full vampire. So, he caught up to me with ease and was able to freely pin me to a tree, his hand clamping down on both of my arms, which were resting right above my head. He then started doing the same exact action as he was doing earlier on, starting with my lips again, then trailing slowly to my neck. I moaned out unwillingly._

_I felt so weird. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before, but I knew it felt good. It was just… the idea of Mr. Crepsley kissing me was more like a sweet nightmare than anything else. He was supposed to be my mentor and only that. Our relationship has gone to friendship, maybe, but… this… _this_ intimate kind of touching was only acceptable for people who truly loved each other, right? And, by love, I mean… err, guy and girl love—like, the love your mother and father feel for each other._

_But, the weirdness of it wasn't all that ran through my mind. I was in bliss; I loved the feeling of his kisses and his small bites. It brought me into a heaven that I would've never imagined in my life. I also thought of myself as crazy for actually liking the touch of a man who was well around two-hundred years old. How twisted was that?_

_Once he reached just under my neck, I had moaned out pleadingly, my eyes opening to meet his lustful green ones. "Stop, Mr. Crepsley… It's… It's weird."_

_He only hushed me at that. "Do not fret, Master Darren. This is common vampire ritual."_

_I knew it wasn't, though. I knew it was _him_ practically _raping_ me, without taking my clothes off! I mean, I should know that much. What did he take me for, a kid?_

_And okay, I still am considered a kid. But really! I wasn't dumb at all, and he knew it!_

_I pouted at him and started kicking him aimlessly (why I didn't do that earlier, the world may never know). But he just chuckled at me and started to softly caress the side of my face with his free hand. "You liar," I deadpanned flatly, making him only chuckle a little more._

"_I knew you would see through this façade, Darren," he said, his tone more seductive than ever. I gulped. "But that is no matter."_

"_But why me, Mr. Crepsley? Why…?"_

_He pondered about it for a minute, but then smirked once he came up with a perfect explanation… not like it was "perfect" anyway, but I guess in his mind it was. "You are… cute, as to say, especially when you make a face of that sort."_

_I pouted again, but he just laughed again. "Oh, bite me, you old man!"_

"_Gladly," he said, his lips closing on to my neck. I gulped, regretting my statement, then waited for the horribly sweet lips to land on my aching neck._

Evra was silent for a moment. I guess I would've been silent, too, if he just told me that his mentor practically _raped_ him in the middle of the night! But, that silent didn't last for long; no, knowing Evra, it wouldn't have lasted for more than half a second.

He busted out into laughter at that. "Man, oh man, Darren! You're such a girl… having _Mr. Crepsley_, of all people, _do_ that to you! Oh, and that part when you said 'bite me' and he literally _bit_ you. Wow, cliché, but funny!"

"Oh, shut up, Evra!" That was my only way at retaliating, but it didn't work. He just kept on laughing and bringing up parts of my story that he enjoyed. He especially brought up that "bite me" remark, which had me almost punching him in the face. But I wouldn't do that to my best friend.

Okay, I might. But, I mean, not right now.

I sighed and quickly slapped my hand back to that red spot. I wasn't even sure what it was called. I surely wasn't going to ask anyone about it, though. Evra would never stop mocking me of this, and Mr. Crepsley… I'm scared to even face him now… But, at the same time, as twisted at it may sound, I really wanted him to do me again.

**. . .**

I crept into the tent, only to find Mr. Crepsley there, like he was _waiting _for me. I had tensed up at that moment and was about to run out when he ran right in front of me and looked at me suspiciously. "Have you been avoiding me, Darren?"

"Yes," I admitted, covering my red spot again. "Sorry. It's nothing personal. I just… need my space."

"I believe it _is_ personal, Darren. It is about yesterday's events, yes?"

"Yes," I agreed, feeling my cheeks burning up. The way he just looked at me all intently had a way of making me react like I've never reacted before. I wouldn't be surprised if he was magic with that sort of stare, or if it was a special power only full-fledged vampires were able to have.

He slowly tucked a hand under my chin, and I feared for the worst. I would've screamed, and trust me, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs so badly, but something inside me stopped me from doing so. He smiled. "I am sorry for my past actions, Darren. I could not… help myself, per se. I was hungry."

"But you fed right before you rap—tackled me…?"

"No, what I meant to say is…" He pursed his lips. "I was hungry… for none other than _you_, Darren."

"Hungry for… me? Isn't vampire blood poison to other vampires?"

I could've sworn Mr. Crepsley made an agitated sort of face at me, but then shrugged it off quickly, as if nothing really weird happened between us. He said nothing more of it, and we continued on with our student-teacher relationship like that entire event never happened. He _had_ told me something peculiar, though, that has haunted my head for a while now. It went something along the lines of, "I suggest you to wear something around your neck to hide that hickey of yours."

What in the world was a _hickey_?!

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**Just a quick one-shot. My first attempt at writing a Darren Shan fic, too. It's pretty fun writing in his POV.**

**Haha, I figured I wasn't the only one who detected the BL-like undertones in the Darren Shan saga. I'm really glad, too, or I wouldn't have been able to read some of the most awesome LartenxDarren fics out there (which is, by the way, my OTP for DS). :)**

**Of course, I'm still new to this series, so bear with me. I've only read up to the third book in the series (and the fourth book in the manga), but I'll eventually finish it… once the library finally has the rest of the books again. Gosh, I hate waiting for certain books in a series to be in the library, and my dad is reluctant to buy the series for me for some reason or another. But ah well.**


	2. Tell Me

**Tell Me  
**Sequel to Bite Me. "What's a hickey?" Mr. Crepsley just stood there in silence, blinking stupidly, his hands and face twitching. So, I asked again: "A hickey—what is it?" LartenxDarren

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As embarrassing as it was, my curiosity got to the best of me, and I started asking around the Cirque to find out what exactly a "hickey" was. You see, Mr. Crespley—just a few nights ago, even—after some… explicitly traumatic experiences… that is still embedded deeply in the depths of my poor, poor mind… ugh, I still shiver at the thought! But, anyway, I digress; as I was saying, Mr. Crepsley had told me, "I suggest you to wear something around your neck to hide that hickey of yours." Now, I'm not sure if those were his exact words, and I may just be a horrible listener despite my apparent superhuman senses… but seriously, in all my life, I've never heard the word "hickey"—_ever_! I wouldn't be too surprised that it was some old world from back when he was a kid—hard to believe, I know, but I guess even someone as stingy as Mr. Crepsley had the glory of being young back then—since he's, what, two-hundred years old already. Then again, this is Mr. Crepsley we're talking about. He has a way of surprising me (like what happened a few nights ago, but again, I digress!).

The first person I decided to ask was Harkat Mulds, naturally. Aside from Evra (sort of), Harkat is my best friend ever. As girly as it sounds—and no, Evra, I do _not_ act like a girl!—Harkat and I tell each other practically everything. If anything, he was the first person I told about the whole "Mr. Crepsley almost raping me" incident, but he only responded with a blank look, then left without a trace. I had shrugged it off, thinking it wasn't important, but now that I'm curious, I just had to find him again.

Searching for the blue-grey little person wasn't difficult at all. Of course he would be working around the Cirque, fretting along with his weird way of running, holding a giant fish skeleton in his head. I called for him, and he looked at me immediately, grinning from ear to ear.

"Darren…!" he said breathily, huskily, rushing up towards me. He looked exhausted and energized at the exact same time. "You're up… early…"

"Oh, yeah," I said plainly, waving a hand passively. "Something was bothering me."

He looked at me worriedly with his giant green eyes. "What is it… Darren?"

"Well, you know that Mr. Crepsley incident I told you about a few days ago or something?" He nodded his head but remained silent, pursing his lips. His entire face seemed to be bloated, like he had a bunch of acorns tucked away in his cheeks. "Well, yesterday, he was telling me how hungry he was for me that night"—he choked on whatever, maybe his saliva, but I continued anyway—"which is weird considering vampire blood is poison to other vampires. But then, he told me to wear something around my neck to hide my hickey"—he choked again—"so I was wondering, what's a hickey?"

Harkat looked at me with a pained expression. "Uhh… err…" He was stuttering and he wouldn't dare look at me. I looked at him, glaring almost, trying to ease the answer out of him, because he obviously knew what it was. But after a while, he still wouldn't tell me and kept offhandedly staring off into space, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Uhh, Harkat?" I asked after practically ten minutes of awkwardness.

"N-n-no! Ask… ask Madame Truska!" He then ran away from me before I could reply to him. I watched as his little silhouette raced out of my range, running like a madman, and I looked at him suspiciously. Huh, maybe nature was calling for him. He did looked constipated with the way he was standing in front of me, pained expression and all.

I decided to take his advice and went to find Madame Truska. Like Harkat, it was easy to find her, as she was always in her tent.

"Truska?" I asked tentatively, carefully peeking into her tent. She was standing in front of her mirror, combing her long elegant beard, and I flushed. She was absolutely beautiful, even with such an unwomanly beard.

"Yes?" She gestured for me to come into her tent, so I did. I looked up at her, watching as she smiled at me congenially. I smiled back.

"Truska, can I ask you something?" I said as innocently as I could. She looked at me and gently massaged the top of my head, like she was a mother. Sometimes, if felt like she was my mother, not necessarily a replacement for my real mother, but it was nice to have someone like that to look up to.

Of course, she smiled at me again, cordially, and nodded her head. "Anything, Darren."

I grinned from ear to ear. I knew she would answer me then. I was happy that Harkat told me to ask her in the first place. With a giant and excited breath, I asked, "What's a hickey?"

Almost immediately, her smile faltered and her eyebrows furrowed, like she was confused. Just like I was. "A… hickey?"

"Do you not know?" I asked in defeat, sighing despondently. I was so sure she would know!

"I do," she said nervously, her hand starting to shake. The comb fell right from her hands, hitting the floor with a shallow thump, and I looked at her incredulously, suspiciously. She pursed her lips, just like what Harkat did. "I don't think I should tell you."

"_Why_?" I said in an unconsciously whiny voice. I guess my inner child got to the best of me.

"Because…" She looked off to the side. "Please ask someone else, Darren."

I looked at her in disbelief. But then, I looked down sadly and huffed up my chest, saying a short "fine" before leaving her tent. Right when I stepped out to the outside world, I was greeted by an over-ecstatic Evra, who jumped onto me as if he was my loyal dog and I was his owner. He even looked up at me the way a dog would; and, I think the creepiest part about it was he stuck out his tongue, like he was about to lick me.

Luckily, he didn't.

"Darren! There you are!" he said, completely overjoyed for some unknown reason. I shrugged him off of me, patted away the dirt that accumulated on my clothing thanks to him, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Evra?" I said, more like a question than anything else.

"Yup! So anyway, I was looking all around for you! I just found this amazing rock in the woods that looks just like a—" And he continued to go on with his excruciatingly long prate. It seemed like he was never going to stop. Even droning him out wasn't working, so I had to step in before my ears exploded.

"Uhh, listen, Evra," I said all of a sudden, cutting him off abruptly. He looked at me curiously, narrowing his eyes.

"I was talking," he said gravely. "But whatever! Who cares about a rock that looks like a—" He started rambling on and on again. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Evra," I interjected again. "I need to ask you something. And please, for once, be serious about it." I put on a show of gravity just to show how serious I was with this. He put on his somber face, too, and nodded.

"Ask away."

"Well, first off, remember that Mr. Crepsley incident I tol—"

He started laughing. _He started laughing_. I felt like my vein could pop, watching him roll all around the floor with his hands clutching his stomach in humored pain. I wanted to punch him right there and then, but I had to restrain myself. C'mon, Darren, you're better than that. Don't let Evra get to the best of you. Don't punch Evra and show that you're weak. Don't—

"Goddamn, Evra, stop laughing!" I finally yelled, ultimately losing it. He rubbed away the happy tears from his eyes and gave out a few more chuckles before subsiding into a calmer demeanor, grinning at me cheekily.

"Oh, Darren, Darren," he cooed, putting a sly finger under my chin. I roared at him angrily. "This isn't about the hickey he gave you, isn't it?"

"It is," I said in contempt, crossing my arms over my chest like a child. I guess I would do that because, well, I _am_ a child, for one thing.

He grinned madly, having the audacity to pound my arm with all his strength. I rubbed my arm ruefully, pouting.

"Goddamn, Darren, you're so naïve." He looked at me through half-lidded eyes, his lips closing in on the shell of my ear. I shivered slightly at the close contact as I felt the heat of his breath against my sensitive skin. "If you really wanna know what a hickey is, why don't I"—he put his mouth on my neck now, gently tickling it with the tip of his tongue—"_show_ you?"

Shocking spasms surging all around me, I gave him a look of utter disgust and tried to push him away, trying to regain my normal composure. "Oh, no way in heck! If _Mr. Crepsley_ gave me one, I'm not letting someone else give me another one!" Heaving out an irritated breath, I asked him through gritted teeth, "is it a disease or something?"

"No. You should be happy you have one, though." He wriggled his eyebrows weirdly. "If you really wanna know, ask the old fart."

Great. Just _great_. It's like I walked around in an entire circle, just to go all the way back where I started. Asking Mr. Crepsley nerved me; I was just scared to know what else he would do to me, or if he would give me any more hickeys. I mean, from what I could tell from everyone else's reactions about the subject, it must be a pretty bad thing (Evra, as usual, was just messing with my mind, telling me that I should be happy about it when I really shouldn't; Evra's a jerk like that). Even then, I still wanted to know about the strange phenomenon everyone else seemed to know everything about.

Really, how come everyone else knew what a hickey was except for me?

I let out a sigh, trying to calm myself, and started walking away from Evra to go on a search for Mr. Crepsley. Evra called out after me to tell me "good luck," but I just shrugged it off. If I spent any more time with the snake boy, I bet I wouldn't be able to hold myself and maybe—just maybe—accidentally, you know, _hurt_ him a little bit. God, he's so annoying.

Unfortunately, the search was long and tedious. For some reason, I couldn't find Mr. Crepsley anymore. It was probably hours after my conversation with Evra that I actually thought about giving up, seeing the moon peek itself out from the horizon. But I willed myself to keep going, and soon enough, I found his tall silhouette off in the woods. The same exact area the "Mr. Crepsley incident" happened. How… suspicious.

"Mr. Crepsley?" I squeaked out, watching as hem, surprised at my presence, turned around. He looked tired, like he hasn't been able to sleep. I rose an eyebrow at that. "You okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes," he said in his husky old voice. "Why are you here at such an hour, Master Shan?"

"I just needed to ask you something."

He grew pensive at that. "Alright, but you have no guarantee that I will answer."

"Aww, c'mon!" I said, grieved and flustered. "I've been asking around the circus all day, but _no one_'s told me yet! _Please_, Mr. Crepsley!" Discreetly, I gave him my best puppy dog eye look, and his lips started wavering until he sighed in defeat.

"Alright, go on."

I grinned. "First, you have to swear that you'll tell me."

The redheaded vampire gave me in incredulous look, his hand slamming against his forehead. "Darren, honestly, stop acting like such a chil—"

"C'mon, _swear_!"

"Alright, alright." He snorted, displeased. "I _swear_."

"Good, good." I took a brief moment before asking the question I've been asking the entire day: "What's a hickey?"

Mr. Crepsley just stood there in silence, blinking stupidly, his hands and face twitching.

So, I asked again: "A hickey—what is it?"

"I do not feel comfortable telling you such."

"You _swore_ though," I said in a matter-of-fact manner. He cursed under his breath, and that was when I knew that he really would tell me.

When he opened his mouth, I couldn't surpass the excitement bubbling up inside me. However, the excitement quickly faded after he said, "a hickey is… an injury."

"A _what_?" I gasped, not believing him at all.

"An injury," he reiterated professionally. "But do not worry. It is not grave. It will wear away in a matter of days."

"Oh." I felt like such a loser at that moment. I spent my entire day asking around just to get an answer like _that_? It really brought me down, and I just wanted to sulk away and hide under my covers for the rest of eternity, not wanting to look at or talk to anyone around the circus anymore. But then I realized, if it was as simple as that, why didn't anyone else just tell me?

"There's more to it than that," I accused courageously. He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head.

"There is," he said. Hey, at least he was honest. "But you do not need to know."

"And why's that?" I challenged.

He narrowed his eyes at me again. "I will give you a hickey again if you keep this up, Master Shan."

Sheesh, what was he, my _mother_? Well, I guess in a way he was (though, I liked Truska better; she was a lot nicer and, well, a lot prettier and was actually suited for the role being a woman and all) but really now!

"Threatening me, eh?"

"Please let the topic drop. This is something to be discussed lightly."

"Just give me another damn hickey, then! Hurt me again like last time!" I challenged like I was some crazy psycho. What was I doing? I didn't really know. But I've spent my entire day wanting to learn what a hickey was, and I was _not_ going to stop here just because Mr. Crepsley was being very uncooperative.

He gave me a stern look before asking, "Are you sure you are willing to endure such again?"

"I'm strong. I'm willing to do anything," I said valorously, spritely.

He sighed. "Alright. Hold still."

And that's just what I did. I stayed at still as I possibly could, watching as Mr. Crepsley crept up closer to me. When he was right in front of me, he put his mouth next to my neck, just like what Evra did a few hours ago, and slightly bit. I winced at the strange feeling. It didn't hurt at all; rather, I think I might've liked it a bit.

Sooner or later, Mr. Crepsley retracted quickly, rubbing his mouth off with his clean sleeve. "Alright, there. A hickey."

"Cool," I said in awe-struck, straining to look at my neck. "So a hickey is an injury, but it's not grave, right?"

"That is correct," he said, nodding his head.

"Well, I guess that's all I really wanted to know. Thanks, Mr. Crepsley."

"Any time." He gave a small smile and walked away, back into the shadows of the woods. I gave out a heave of relief and subconsciously touched my hickey. Too cool.

**. . .**

"_What the hell?_"

I looked at the dictionary over and over again, rereading the same exact passage with an incredulous look. There were several definitions for the word "hickey," but after reading all of them, I assumed it was the third definition that everyone refused to tell me about. I couldn't believe I was so… so naïve about this! I can't believe no one told me about this! I can't believe Mr. Crepsley took advantage of me like that!

I… I just can't believe it!

With a loud puff, I reread the definition one last time before closing the giant, heavy book angrily, storming off into the safety of my room. _Fuck_ everyone, embarrassing me like that. Geez…

_n.__pl. _**hick·eys **_Informal_

**1. **A device or contrivance; a gadget.  
**2. **A reddish mark on the skin caused by amorous kissing, biting, or sucking.  
**3. **A pimple.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Oh, Darren, so naïve. :V**

**Haven't written Darren Shan in such a long time. I do miss this fandom very much, but I hate the lack of Larten/Darren fics. It makes me sad. :( But oh well. Sorry if anything sounds weird or off. I honestly had to Wikipedia a bunch of the character names because the only ones I remembered were Darren, Larten, and Evra. XD**


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